


Deadly Combination

by GuileandGall



Series: Free To Be [24]
Category: Saints Row
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, F/M, Fluff, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-08-07 07:43:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7706242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuileandGall/pseuds/GuileandGall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Is it really all that surprising that there are members of the crew that just don’t understand what the boss is thinking? Or Matt for that matter? When questions arise, how do Remy and Matt address the curiosity surrounding their relationship, specifically the age difference and the timing?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deadly Combination

**Author's Note:**

> Written to fulfill a prompt from the Movie Quotes Prompt List: “Smart & pretty: that right there is a deadly combination.” Sent by antivanbrandy for Remy & Matt

**-1-**

The rhythmic echo of two sets of parts being placed on the table resounded around the bay. Johnny tapped his incisors together silently within his own mouth. That rhythm differed, it tapped to the clicking of thoughts in his head. His hands faltered for barely an instant and the staggered sound of two pieces hitting the table separately stood out like a bad note in a symphony.

Gat had been watching Odekar and Miller on the other side of the bay, chatting about something or other. And Asha kept looking back at them, though if he had to venture a guess the MI-6 operative was not looking at him, but the oblivious blonde next to him.

“Did I lose you?” Remy said with a light laugh flavoring her voice with playfulness.

“No. Just thinking.”

“Whoa, don’t hurt yourself.”

Johnny punched her square in the shoulder, it just made her laugh louder.

“Or me for that matter.” She finished taking apart her weapon. Her knuckles rested against the tabletop as she looked up at him. “Seriously,” she said, tipping her head slightly and studying him. “You doing okay? You’ve seemed a little … off your stride.”

Johnny grimaced and shook his head. His eyes flickering from his best friend since grade school toward the pair of Brits exiting the bay. “Just trying to figure something out,” he replied. By the last word his eyes were on Remy again, a partial smile flashing before his attention went back to the rifle.

“Talk to me. I can help you figure it out.”

He didn’t say anything at first.

“I mean, I always was smarter than you,” she teased, wearing that shit-eating, infuriating grin.

“Mmhmm,” he hummed incredulously.

Remy just chuckled. “You know,” she crooned, rubbing a rag over the larger parts of her weapon, “Asha reminds me of you with better hair.”

“The fuck?”

Blue eyes danced to the tune of her chuckling. “I mean I bet she might even be able to take you in hand-to-hand. You’ve seen her in action.”

Johnny finally laid down the last piece of his pistol. “Are you …?” his brow furrowed with his frown. “Are you trying to talk me into hitting that?”

She shrugged. “I heard the way she complimented you the other day. And the two of you are so alike that it’s almost fucking masturbation.”

“Rem!”

“What? You going to try telling me you don’t do that shit,” she challenged, leaning on the table and giving him an incredulous look.

Johnny scowled at her. “Ain’t interested.”

“Suit yourself.”

In a way, Gat found relief in the fact that she gave up the idea so easily.

“But I saw you looking over there. Figured you were just trying to be all sly,” she added, shattering his perception.

“I wasn’t looking at her,” Johnny barked before thinking about what he was saying.

Remy cocked one dark brow at him, as she glanced up at him.

“Fuck,” he breathed. Then he pressed his palms against the cool metal table and met the boss’ gaze over the rim of his lenses. “What is with you and the kid?”

“Pardon.”

“You heard me.”

“You looking for a blow-by-blow?” she asked, a clever grin on her lips, while her eyes held onto that cool calculation.

“No.” He straightened, folding his arms over his chest. He stared at her for a long, silent moment. “I don’t get it Remy. Hell, we were running together before he was even born.”

Her steel eyes stormed and narrowed. Then she threw the barrel in her hands against the table, scattering the neatly laid out collection of pieces for both their weapons. “I know okay,” she all but yelled as she turned away from the table. She pushed her hands over her head, fingers threading at the back under her long ponytail. She paced slowly away for about a dozen steps. “Don’t you think I’ve asked myself the same questions,” she accused, turning and looking at him. Then a little bit of anger flashed in her eyes. “Don’t you think I’ve reminded myself dozens of times that he was barely 17 when I met him. And seven years later here we are banging like bunnies.”

Johnny leaned his hip against the edge of the table.

“I don’t understand it sometimes. Why then none of this was an issue then, and now …” She pulled her arms in, her hands locking behind her neck. The pair of them stared at each other for a long time.

“You love him?”

Remy’s lips thinned with resolve and the barest hint of a shake of her head confirmed the fact. Then she smiled, her eyes brightening in a way that Johnny knew well, because it was kind of like the way she smiled at him, but not. “What can I say? Smart & pretty is a deadly combination.”

“Smart I’ll give you, but pretty. I don’t know.”

His friend crossed the space quickly, wrapping Johnny up in a hug. He returned it embracing her tightly for a moment. He really was happy for her. She’d never had something like that, as long as he knew her. _She deserves it, a chance to get a little happy_ , he thought. Remy squeezed him and looked up at him, leaning her bony chin precisely against his pec.

“You want to see pretty, you should see him naked,” she teased, smacking Johnny on the rear before she darted out of his grip and out of reach.

“I’ll pass. Thanks. My cradle robbing days are over.”

“I don’t know,” Remy replied in a long measured, sing-song tone. “I bet a good fight. All that grunt and sweating and manhandling.”

“Would you stop? I’m not banging Asha and that’s final.”

“Cool. I’ll tell Pierce to save you some lotion.”

When she dodged the punch bouncing on her toes, giving him that little come and get it gesture, Johnny instead squirted her with the can of gun oil.

“Dick.”

Johnny just laughed.

“Fine.” Remy pulled off her T-shirt and threw it at his head. He caught it, the reek of the oil still wrinkled his nose even from a distance. “You can do that all by yourself. I’m going to grab a shower.”

Johnny watched her walk out of the room, ponytail bobbing just below the line of her black racerback sports bra. It was the first time he noticed that she was sporting more ink, and a well-shaped scar on her shoulder. He didn’t let himself think to hard about that scar and what it probably meant. Instead he looked at her shirt and with a flash of his brow decided there was more than enough oil there, and it would be a shame to waste it.

 

**-2-**

When the door opened, Matt looked up from his perch on the end of the bed. There was something in the way he looked at her that stopped Remy in her tracks. Her smile faded and she crossed the room quickly, taking his face in her hands.

“What’s wrong?”

“How do you know something’s wrong?” he asked, blues sparkling as his brow furrowed over them.

Her fingers swept his dark hair away from his forehead. “Because I’m far more observant than people give me credit for.”

“I love you,” he said, like it needed to be reiterated for the record all the sudden.

Taking a moment, Remy leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against his lips. “I love you, too, Matt,” she replied. The smile that formed always sprang up for him in moments like this. Quiet moments where it was just them, between bad jokes and interruptions. Her thumbs pressed against his cheekbones. “Talk to me.”

He stared at her for a long time, and the silence drew on almost long enough to worry her. His fingertips dug into her hips and he finally spoke. “You know this isn’t just because everything’s gone, right?”

While her hands caressed his brow, cheeks, and softly chased along the shell of his ear, her eyes searched his.

“I’d want this even if the Bloody Zin never showed up,” he argued adamantly. His gaze shifted away for a moment. “Though I’m not sure I would have had the gall to say it. I’ve wanted this … you … us since Prague.”

“Matt,” she said, trying to soothe his agitation.

“Remy tell me you believe me. This isn’t some fluke sparked out of desperation or lack of other prospects.” The hurt in his eyes jerked something inside her. His voice softened. “Tell me it’s more than that for you.”

She repeated his name again. Unsure what to say, she kissed him hard, one arm encircling his shoulder as the other cradled his cheek. Remy didn’t know how to make him see it other than to try and show it to him. She didn’t know the words. Relationships that went beyond a few raucous nights in bed were not her forte.

He broke the kiss with a soft plea. “Please, Remy.”

Biting her bottom lip, she stared into his electric blue eyes. She wanted to assuage the pain she found there, the hurt that seemed to deepen every second she couldn’t find a way to tell him. “When I went into Asha’s simulation, part of it …” she looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then turned and sat next to him. Remy slipped her hand into his, entwining their fingers. “She said it was all about failing the mission over and over. A part of that was failing to protect you. There was an evil version of me, and the shot you—point blank. It tied me up inside, even though I knew you were safe and it was all some game.

“I never acted on it because you were in London I was in the states. Plus, I almost killed you.”

“I almost killed you,” Matt countered.

“Touché.” She smiled at him and leaned her head against his shoulder. “It felt similar in Prague, when that guy got the drop on you. And like then, in that sim, I worried that you’d never know,” she said, staring at their hands resting on his thigh. “Then after I worried that I pushed. I didn’t want to corner you, or start something that was only because it was here and now, in a desperate situation.”

“It’s not.” Matt turned, running his fingers along her jaw until they slipped around and behind her neck. “I didn’t choose to do this because of Zinyak or the world ending. There are so many times I wanted to just blurt it out. On the phone, in the field, a couple of times I almost worked up the nerve in the Oval Office, but every time we got interrupted, or I got in my own way.” Finally wearing an easier look and a soft smile, Matt rested his forehead against hers. “You can be an intimidating woman, Remy McGinnis.”

“No,” she chided, relaxation starting to wash over her as well. “Not me.” Tipping her chin, she stole a kiss. “I’m all sweetness,” then another, “and cotton candy,” and another.

Matt laughed softly, his smile contorting against his as he pulled her mouth firmly against his. She followed his lead. Her lips parted when his tongue teased over them, and her free hand tightened in his tie. As he pressed her back, she pulled him to her. Both of them were breathing heavy when the kiss finally broke.

“You know? I’m used to the smell of gun oil, but bathing in it might be a little excessive,” Matt teased against her mouth.

Remy nipped his bottom lip. “You can thank Johnny for that,” she explained, her fingers brushing through his raven hair. “He doused me for suggesting he bang Asha.”

Miller just smiled at first. “You didn’t?” When she nodded, he laughed wildly.

“What? The two of them are like mirror images of one another,” she said, slipping out from under Matt.

His arm looped around her waist. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To take a shower, because the way I figure it a mouthful of Hoppe’s might just kill the mood, and potentially put you in medical.” When she stood, she pulled at his hand. As she walked backward, he stood and followed. “Now are you going to tell me what brought this on.”

“Asha asked me what I saw in you.”

“Oh, really? And what did you tell her?” she asked, turning to face the direction of the bathroom.

Matt’s arms slipped around her; his mouth at her ear. “You’re smart. You’re pretty. That right there is a _deadly_ combination.”

Remy hugged his arms around her as she laughed raucously. When they reached the bathroom, Matt leaned against the counter as she started the water in the shower. He looked confused. So she smiled at him, then stripped her remaining clothing off. “So are you,” she finally said, leaning against him and loosening his tie with much more care than he might.

Wrapping her hands in each end, she pulled him down for another passionate kiss. Her nose nudged his. “Will you wash my hair?” she asked softly, in that tone he seemed to really enjoy, rising on her tiptoes to kiss his bottom lip.

Matt just nodded, pulling off his suit with urgency as Remy continued to kiss in a languid deep manner decidedly opposite to the frenzy of his limbs.


End file.
